Overview of Major Assignments in CO150

C0CC150: Portfolio I - Part B

Summarizing an Article and Analyzing its Effectiveness

Purpose: Your purpose for writing this essay will be to represent a writer's argument and evaluate the effectiveness of their argument. To prepare for this essay, we will read two articles that address the issue of advertising alcohol to youth. Then, we will examine the purpose, content, tone, organization and evidence for each article to determine whether it is effective for its target audience. You will choose one of the two articles to focus on and revise into a polished essay. The articles include:

"Alcohol Advertising" by Dr. David Hanson

"Alcohol Advertising: Are Our Kids Collateral or Intended Targets?" by George Hacker

Audience: Your audience is yourself, your instructor and your classmates. Although your readers are familiar with the text you've chosen, you should thoroughly represent the writer's main points and provide textual evidence throughout.

Requirements:

Your summary should accurately and objectively represent the author's purpose and main ideas in less than 300 words (about one page). It should also adhere to the guidelines for academic summary covered in class.

Your response should be at least 600 words (about two pages). In it you should:

Provide a clear thesis claim in which you evaluate the effectiveness of either Hanson or Hacker's argument.

Focus on 1 - 2 ideas. Decide which points you most want to make in your thesis and stick to developing those points thoroughly. If you try to cover too much material, your essay will feel scattered and undeveloped.

Develop your thesis claim with logical reasoning and substantial evidence (such as personal experience and textual references). When evaluating the effectiveness of a text, your evidence generally comes from the text itself.

As with Portfolio I - Part A, begin your essay with a summary of the article and then lead into your response. Clarify where the summary ends and where the response begins by shifting your tone and providing a clear thesis claim to indicate the start of your response.